Thirty-Five Weeks and Dr. Appointment

We've made it to 35 weeks! There are many times in a day where I just stare at my calendar, as if looking at it will help me get things accomplished. Only 5 weeks to go! Though I'm keeping in mind that Caleb could in all likelihood come late, so I'm adding a week onto that, but I'm trying to have everything ready a couple weeks early, just in case. So three weeks to finish up!

The good news is that I'm ready for Caleb. He's got everything he needs and plenty of stuff that will be handy. The registry still has stuff on it, but I've got one more shower, and then I'm hoping my family will get some things on it for Caleb for Christmas. So, family, if you're wondering what I need/want, just check out my registries!

I haven't put my hospital bag together, yet. The last time I went somewhere I thought, "Wow, the next time I do this, I'll be heading to the hospital!" Maybe I'll put the bag together this weekend. It's really on my list of things to do before 2 weeks out, so it probably won't get done until then! If something happens before then, you may get a message on your phone like this, "Hey, we're at the hospital...could you bring me a toothbrush?" Nah...I figure in most cases I'll have time at home to gather stuff together if necessary. See? I've totally justified my procrastination, and now I'll never get that bag packed.

So how is Caleb doing this week? Well, he's grown to 5.25 pounds and over 18 inches long! From this point on, he's pretty much just working on gaining weight. And I've been hungry!! Everything everyone suggested yesterday sounded so yummy. I've got the munchies for sure.

My feet have officially swollen. Okay, just a little bit, but my ankles are hard to find. Yesterday, I attributed it to being in the office all day, but the swelling wasn't down by this morning. I know it's not a hydration issue, because this past weekend was officially Operation Hydration, and I've been doing pretty well since then. It could have something to do with all the junk I consumed at the State Fair on Tuesday.... Hm...so maybe it will go down eventually.

So Operation Hydration brings me to my next topic: the dr. appointment! We had our appointment on Monday. Every time, I have to go pee in a cup right when I check in. I put the cup on a counter, then go back to the waiting room. Last time there were two other cups next to mine, and mine was...well, you could tell I was not properly hydrated. My pee lost the hydration contest. So, not to be outdone, I commenced Operation Hydration the weekend before this past appointment. (You're right, I should try to ALWAYS be properly hydrated, but I need short-term goals.) And while there were no other pee cups to compare to on the counter this week, I know I would have beaten out those other cups from last week. Totally.

Don't you just love the diversity of my blog? Or of my brain, that can make a contest out of pee in a cup?

On to the appointment. One exciting bit is that my mom got to come! She was in town for an Arbonne party the day before, so she stayed over until the 4:00 appointment. I was scheduled to have a sonogram (remember, the dr. thought Caleb's kidneys/bladder looked funny), so how cool would it be to have my mom there to see Caleb! Well, it didn't go exactly as we'd hoped, but it still makes for a good memory. The sonographer was not in a very accomodating mood. She didn't even understand why I was having a sonogram, since she'd looked at the printout the dr. had given her from two weeks before, and had already declared the kidneys to be fine. I said I supposed Dr. K just wanted to be sure, and by the way, my mom has never seen a sonogram....

The sonographer quickly said my mom had missed the 20-week sono, and that was the best time to see anything. By now, Caleb was too big, and she'd just see his kidneys. I told her about the awesome face shot we got two weeks earlier, but she wasn't convinced. She seemed to think that we were wanting a full-body shot, when really, anything related to seeing Caleb is pretty cool! Anyway, she got things ready to look at the kidneys, and found them right off the bat. I was hoping she would have to hunt for awhile, giving us a little more time. Jon pointed things out to my mom as he could, "There's his spine...and his head...do you see that?"

The kidneys were declared healthy, and I asked if we could please see Caleb's heart. The sonographer (who was not ever rude, just busy and ready to be done for the day), accomodated, and we got to see a heart with a nice steady rhythm. She even turned on the dopplar and we got to hear the heartbeat! I was glad, because my mom had really wanted to hear it. We also got a printout of a little Caleb foot.

And that was that. We were done in about 7 minutes, and swept back out to the waiting room to wait for the dr. The sonographer checked and told us the dr. was running behind (WAY behind, it turns out), so my mom went ahead and headed home. I wish it could have been as laid-back as when Dr. K does the sono...she roams around on my belly, showing us all the little cool things, trying to get the best shot she can of his face, etc. But I do realize that this sonogram had a particular purpose, and so I understand why it was done so quickly and matter-of-factly.

Out to the waiting room for an hour...

And back in! The nurse laughed because we write everything down. She said we were the most detailed of all the patients. I think it's the science side of me. I've always liked taking measurements and tracking things. Here are the stats:

Weight: Gained 4lbs. Total of 20lbs.
Uterus: 33-34cms
Blood pressure: 116/74
Caleb's heart rate: 134bpm

Caleb's heart rate was a little slower than normal, but Dr. K said he was probably napping. I'd been napping, too, in the waiting room, so I couldn't blame him.

I didn't have any questions this time. Dr. K said everything is going about as normal as can be. She expects me to gain a total of 25-30 pounds overall. She also wondered if Caleb would be long or not, since Jon's so tall and I'm not. She joked a little about how different the two of us are, so it would be interesting to see what genes win out. Yeah, I'm kind of thinking the same thing!

I already think he's pretty darn cute, just from the sonos. Yep, he's a cutie! No doubt about it! And in 5 weeks the whole world will know it!